LOS ANGELES – Beyond Meat is expanding its production facility from 30,000 sq. ft. to 100,000 sq. ft. at its plant in Columbia, Missouri. The new facility will generate more than 250 new jobs in 2018.

“We first came to Missouri in 2009 to access the outstanding research being conducted at the University of Missouri. We have been in investing in, and growing together with, Columbia, ever since, and I’m pleased to announce this latest manufacturing investment, our largest to date. Our expansion not only brings more jobs and opportunity to this special community but also furthers Missouri’s position as a leader in the production of plant-based meat,” said Ethan Brown, CEO and founder of Beyond Meat.

Beyond Meat’s existing Missouri facility houses more than 200 employees.

“This expansion in our production capacity will help us to meet the considerable increase in market demand we have seen for our new and innovative product offerings,” said Mark Nelson, COO and CFO at Beyond Meat. “Our expanded 100,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing footprint will provide the scale we need to service our rapidly growing retail, foodservice and international customer base.”

Beyond Meat is the maker of the Beyond Burger, which the company says looks, cooks and tastes like ground beef from cows but is made from plants. The company already has distribution to 27,000 grocery stores and restaurants in the US.